German Aliens (H. B.)
German Aliens is a letter written by an anonymous H. B. published in the Daily Mail on 28 october 1914.
The story mentioned in the letter is the Arthur Conan Doyle's fiction Danger!, published in the New York World on 27 september, 4 & 11 october 1914.
Letter
SIR ARTHUR CONAN DOYLE.
To the Editor of The Daily Mail.
Sir, — Sir A. Conan Doyle appears to have a very tender heart for "the enemy in our midst," and so one is not surprised to find that he is a contributor to the funds of "The Committee for the Assistance of Germans, Austrians, and Hungarians in Distress."
Unfortunately he is not so considerate of the feelings of the British, otherwise he would not add to his income by writing tales for the consumption of the American and German public in which his own country, now in the supreme crisis of her history, is represented as utterly defeated. I have just received from a Canadian friend a magazine published at the end of last month in New York in which appears a story by Sir Arthur beginning in these words:
- It is an amazing thing that the English, who have the reputation of being a practical nation, never saw the danger to which they were exposed. Yet when the day of trial came all this imposing force was of no use whatever and might as well not have existed. Their ruin could not have been more complete or more rapid if they had not possessed an iron-clad or a regiment.
Published at this critical time doubtless this precious pen-picture of submarine warfare and the suggested downfall of the British Empire will be eagerly perused and gloated over by our enemies.
H. B.
